Boron compounds have been shown to be toxic to a wide range of wood destroying insects and fungi. They are cheap, have low mammalian toxicity and their application in the treatment of wood does not demand specialized equipment. These attributes make them specially attractive to developing countries. Currently, however, little is known about the mechanism of diffusion of boron through wood. Effective treatment with boron preservatives requires good understanding of how the preservatives diffuse through wood. This paper presents a research proposal with the overall objective of determining the relative importance of structural wood components in determining diffusion rates.